It Can't Be Spring

 I am starting to write this article on 23 April. It can't be spring. This season's snowfall started 142 days ago. It has snowed again this morning and afternoon in an attempt to deny that spring has been officially declared. Mother Nature is above all proclamations that either man or woman may promulgate. We are at the mercy of powers that used to be higher than our ability to control.

    Currently, however, it seems as if some governments and their agencies are striving to alter the environment in profoundly negative ways. I was shocked this morning when I  followed two links sent to me by our Tasmanian contributor. They were articles about the rape and poisoning of the land by a forestry extraction company and the responsible governmental agency's utter disregard to either enforce the existing minimal environmental laws that had been broken or to take any action to alleviate the destruction. The second article was on the Premier's labeling leading and recognized people in the arts as "greenie extremists" when they protested an arts festival's sponsorship by Forest Tasmania. Things are even worse in my country.

   A "Clean Skies" label is being used for a proposed weakening of air pollution controls; extractive mines are planned for National Forests and their trees are to be cut down to prevent forest fires; wilderness areas are being opened for road building; mountain tops are again to be allowed to be bulldozed into streams in order to uncover coal deposits so that power plants can spew more pollutants into the air. The list is goes on and on. I am reminded of a former Vice President who said, before he was indicted for bribery, that "once you have seen one Redwood (tree) you have seen them all". When will people wake up to reality and realize what is happening? Will it only be our descendents when they are forced to live in the despoiled land that we are about to bequeath them?

    OK. I got part of it off my chest and will now dwell on more pleasant things.

    It is not only wild Violets that come in many colors. The Viola Sorbet hybrids may be obtained in more than two dozen different varieties of color. The three shown here are but a microcosm of what is available. Kay has been enamored of their predecessor, Johnny Jump Ups. Since I indulge her every wish, this has resulted in the things propagating